Gramophone Magazine
August 2023
Editor's Choice

Han Chen (piano)

Ligeti: Études for piano, book 1 (études 1-6)
Ligeti: Études for piano, book 3 (études 15-18)
Ligeti: Capriccio No. 1
Ligeti: Capriccio No. 2
Ligeti: Études for piano, book 2 (études 7-14)

Gyorgy Ligeti’s etudes redefined the piano’s tonal possibilities and are considered one of his major creative achievements, as well as being one of the most significant sets of piano studies of the 20th century. They inevitably draw on influences from the past such as Chopin and Debussy, but avoid any sense of eclecticism. Ligeti’s often spectacularly virtuoso use of complex rhythms and geometric patterns proceeds from simple core ideas to create music that is ‘neither “avant-garde” nor “traditional”, neither tonal nor atonal’, and always backed by that glint of humour in the composer’s eye.

"It’s no surprise that he surmounts the sophisticated rhythmic challenges of Ligeti’s Études to a T, while infusing them with plenty of tonal allure and personality." - Gramophone Magazine, August 2023.